China has accused American chip-maker Nvidia of breaking its antitrust laws—a move that intensifies already fraught economic relations between Beijing and Washington. China's top antitrust regulator accused the tech giant of breaking the country's competition law, which the New York Times sees as a "tit for tat" retaliation in response to US moves. The timing of the announcement is notable—it came as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met in Madrid to address trade disputes, per the Wall Street Journal.
The backdrop: The US recently expanded a related blacklist, barring 23 more Chinese firms from purchasing American technology on national security grounds. Nvidia hasn't released a statement about the findings, but investors reacted quickly—shares dipped more than 2% in premarket trading. The regulator alleges Nvidia failed to uphold promises made when China approved its 2020 acquisition of Mellanox Technologies, specifically commitments to avoid anti-competitive behavior and to maintain supply to Chinese customers.
Nvidia's position is complicated by the intensifying US-China race over artificial intelligence. CEO Jensen Huang has argued that access to the Chinese market is key to keeping Nvidia at the forefront of AI chip manufacturing in the world. The company currently makes the world's most powerful chips, notes the Journal. Despite US government pressure, Huang convinced the Trump administration to allow some chip sales to China, a move that drew criticism from US foreign policy hawks worried about Chinese tech ambitions.
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